American Birthrates: Quantity v. Quality
10th October 2012
Steve Sailer is never afraid to ask the discomforting questions.
So what could be more obviously important to America’s future than the quantity and quality of births?
And yet while newspapers run routine articles on the quantity of births, there is negligible coverage of the quality.
On the face of it, this is rather strange because most other aspects of 21st-century American culture are obsessed with quality over quantity. Tiger Mothers, for instance, aren’t impressed that Arizona State has more students than Princeton. Nor does anybody win at fantasy football by having the most players on their roster.
And what does that mean for the rest of us?
One insight is found in the opening scene of the Bush Era’s signature film, Idiocracy. Sitting next to her husband Trevor (138 IQ), Carol (141 IQ) explains, “There’s no way we could have a child now, not with the market the way it is.” Meanwhile, Clevon (84 IQ) has impregnated much of his trailer park.
When home prices increase much faster than income, the prudent abstain from family formation. In contrast, the spurious prosperity of a debt bubble appears to ignite the animal spirits of the less thoughtful.
In other words, the facts of life on the ground encourage low quality people to reproduce and high quality people not. Marxists coined a term for it: ‘proletariat’, those whose only product is offspring.
October 10th, 2012 at 08:35
When will you socialist, dependency-fostering, Crustian Democrats stop blaming Bush for everything?
Oh…wait… Never mind.
October 10th, 2012 at 13:09
In an odd sort of way, Mitt Romney and his Mormons are an exception to this “Quantity v. Quality” quandary. Lots of kids, lots of college degrees, and strong core values. (Of course it must be pointed out that Harry Reid is also one of the “Saints”, so the term “quality” must be qualified.)
As for the illegitimate birth rate, one wonders how much Bill Clinton actually contributed to it. Directly.
October 10th, 2012 at 14:05
The answer to that question is, of course, Never.
October 10th, 2012 at 16:04
So we can look forward to a demographic shift where the majority of the US population is either Mormon or stupid? Can’t wait.
October 10th, 2012 at 21:08
Or Mexican, Dennis.
October 10th, 2012 at 21:09
So wear a white shirt and narrow tie, speak only simple words, and say them in Spanish – and you’ll fit right in.